Author confession

Author Confession—I was just challenged by my Jeannie JB Richards, to offer contrition, so here goes:

Bless me, Jeannie, for it has been a lifetime since I have confessed my writing sins and hang ups. Please forgive me for...

1) Being an unrepentant pantser that doesn't write up details about the worlds she creates, the plots she devises, or her characters. Yeah, I totally get them, but I never write it down and, when something unexpected comes up, I'll just make it up as a I go. I also write my first draft in nearly final form. If I have a crappy first draft, chances are, I'll never touch it again.

2) Writing YA without reading much of it and not liking most of what I have read. My take on it is different and I wrote to please my daughter rather than following along established trends.

3) Not being a big fan of many established icons of the genres I write in (which doesn't mean they aren't good but that they don't speak to *me*) including Tolkien, Rowlings, Star Wars, Clarke, Asimov (except his real science stuff), while being a fanatic of various icons in all kinds of genres specific to the things that appeal to me. Especially humor.

4) Using cats as plot devices. More than once. Even all the damn time.

> 5) Dragon-human sex. Sorry. 

6) Researching almost nothing except on the fly while I'm writing and getting only what I need to get. Or gathering groups of experts in various fields I hit up so I don't have to become an expert. I probably write fantasy and science fiction (often focused on my own areas of expertise) because I'm lazy.

7) Writing the kind of rhyme/rhythm epic poetry NO ONE reads any more. And not liking any other kind.

8) Being overly critical of (a) incomplete stories in books (story arc left hanging with no completion rather than a chapter in a larger arc) and (b) characters who do things that make no sense (to me). I know they exist, but I don't like reading them. I also struggle with present tense, especially in first person, for no discernible reason.

9) Failing at any kind of self-promotion 'cause I'm not easy get along with.

10) Being inspired by manga not only because it's triggered multiple books but also because it leaves me too little time to read other novels 'cause I'm totally addicted.

Now that you have my #AuthorConfession, it’s time for yours—Author Gibson, Mirren Hogan, Greg Alldredge